Schmidt & Vautier claim Indy Lights crown: Year in review 2012

Sam Schmidt gave young French driver Tristan Vautier the only advice he knew. “Race where you can win,” Schmidt said. “Race where you can dominate.”

After Schmidt’s Indy Lights team gave Vautier a test run during the last offseason, both knew Vautier needed to move up even though he was low on sponsorship money. Having IndyCar’s support through the Mazda Road to Indy scholarship helped his cause, and Schmidt signed the reigning Star Mazda champion.

Good call. Vautier won four races and five poles in Indy Lights, and the championship was the sixth for Schmidt’s team in the series. Vautier, now 23, finished fourth in the season-ending race at Auto Club Speedway to clinch the title. Carlos Munoz of Andretti/AFS won that race, one of four ovals on the 12-race calendar.

Vautier edged his teammate, Esteban Guerrieri, by eight points. Guerrieri won three races, including the Freedom 100 in May at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Argentine also won on the streets of Long Beach, Calif., and at Iowa Speedway.

Vautier led from flag to flag in the season opener in St. Petersburg, Fla., at the Milwaukee Mile, at Quebec’s Trois-Rivieres street circuit and on the Baltimore streets. He started from the pole in each. Schmidt’s other two drivers, Victor Carbone and Oliver Webb, finished sixth and seventh in the championship.

Munoz and Gustavo Yacaman of Team Moore each won twice (Munoz also in Edmonton, Yacaman in Detroit and Toronto). Munoz’s teammate, two-time Indianapolis 500 starter Sebastián Saavedra, won once, at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama.

The season also saw the announcement of a new equipment package for the series in 2014. A request for proposals was distributed to potential manufacturers in May; decisions on those have not yet been made.